misscousinitt's MF Diary

misscousinitt

Wow! Can't believe it's 2 weeks since I've been on here!

It's been very busy - glad this week is going to be a little less hectic. Business is doing okay - weather has been against me on the last two markets, but lessons learned and nice people met.

OP of £500 made last week from the rent money and signature updated. Not sure how long we can keep this up but I am doing my best to bring enough money in - new opportunities arising all the time.

I hope everyone is well, going to take a few days to catch up with everyone's news.

MCI

Karmacat

misscousinitt wrote: »

OP of £500 made last week from the rent money and signature updated. Not sure how long we can keep this up but I am doing my best to bring enough money in - new opportunities arising all the time.

That sounds great! Really happy to hear it's going so well.

misscousinitt

Another 2 weeks go by...I can see a pattern emerging.

I am just about to embark on September's finances. I think we have done alright (I hope). My income is a little below what I would like it to be, but at least we have DH toy fair money to prop it up this month.

I am hoping that my business spending will calm down a bit in the coming month...nearly there with the Foodie gifts -the packaging has been a nightmare to sort out.

Had a good last two weeks at market - sold out last week and did quite well yesterday too. Makes up for the previous weeks (just about) when I was beginning to feel like a duck! Quack! Quack!

This month's rental money will be put by for the mortgage OP planned for beginning of November (provided we don't have to dip into it -I don't think we will).

Lots of markets booked and just about to sort the last week of November out -which is my only free week now before Christmas.

We are having a new boiler on 21st Oct and I have planned a long overdue House Warming for the 28th Oct - going to have a little foodie gift product launch as well. DH not too happy about that, but I'm not happy about the expense on the boiler...so I think we are even. Will have that week off to clean the house and prepare for the party and fix anything after the boiler installation.

I better get on with my chores - still can't get used to Monday being my Saturday.

Hope everyone is well.

MCI

misscousinitt

Wow...its been a while.

Been busy and had a couple of injuries (knee and ankle). Felt like I was loosing my mojo the last couple of weeks too...but hopefully getting better now - head has been all over the place.

Fully booked till Christmas now and hoping to be making a bit of money at the gift fairs I'm going to.

Made another OP on the 6th - we are now under £93k and we have 19 years 2 months left on the term. Paid about £500 less interest this year than last - it's going down nicely and I do hope that we can keep it going. Next OP planned for January 2018!!!

The change in interest rate doesn't affect us mortgage wise due to us being on the fixed rate for 5 years...hoping it may make a small difference on the savings though - or am I asking too much?

As seems customary for this time of year, I seem to be loosing weight again - not intentional at all - need to remember to eat when I'm busy - I tend to forget!

Got a busy few weeks ahead and need my strength (and need to heal my twisted ankle) - so having a lazy day today with my feet up. Got a few chores to do shortly, but will settle back down again afterwards.

I do hope everyone is well - I can see me doing all my catching up at Christmas at this rate.

Take care xx

misscousinitt

Life continues a pace and I have had to bring myself to a relative stop for today. Cancelled one of my markets (only lost £5 stall fee) as I am shattered and need my strength for another gift fair tomorrow - it was much better to abandon that one and risk a lot of work for not much gain (I don't know that but it's a new market to me and not a very well established one - so I will keep deluding myself!).

So instead of baking yesterday I sat with my feet up and updated my Web site, opened my online shop, did a new Christmassy Facebook cover and did my clear product and price labels for my stall tomorrow. So a lot achieved without having to stand - which is good news for the ankle as it's still quite sore as I haven't been able to rest it as much as I should have done.

Seriously starting to think about Christmas now and I've got a few gifts stashed away - need a few more, but sticking mainly to budget for each person. Hoping to half what I spent last year...

Going to a friends on Monday who is on bed rest as she has a pressure sore (from being on bed rest after an operation). It was her birthday this week and I am going with baked goodies and a lunch time meal of cottage pie (that was requested). I have also agreed to do her three Christmas dinners and deliver them on Christmas Eve as she will still be on bed rest and her family still expect her to provide dinner (don't ask, it's a long story). Anyway, going to cheer her up and make plans for the coming weeks on how I can help whilst fitting everything else in.

Not too much to do today - I guess about 4 hours work and then I can relax into my event tomorrow knowing I'm all ready to go. Fortunately it's only about 20-30 mins drive so not too early start.

I hope everyone is keeping well and I'll check in soon as time allows.

MCI

Karmacat

Wow, you sound busy! I really hope you're enjoying it!

CathT

Business venture sounds great MCI. What a good friend you are too.

michelle09

Sounds busy! Sometimes a day off to recharge is needed and desperately important for your health and sanity. Good luck with the fair tomorrow though.

misscousinitt

Hi everyone

I really don't know where to begin to catch up! The last few weeks have been a complete whirl wind of time in the kitchen, markets, getting ready for Christmas, looking after my friend and then Christmas itself.

Having finally slowed down for a bit (even though I have loads to do in the house over the next couple of weeks), it's time to take stock, catch up and enjoy a little me time.

Today seems a good time to start - DH is off to visit a toy fair and I will have the house to myself for a couple of hours.

Aims for 2018 include:

- Double my turnover (may be a bit ambitious but you got to aim high right?)
- Keep finances at such a level that the OP'S from the rent money continue uninterrupted.
- make some money by other means - eBay etc... get back into surveys
- make some time for DH and I (I have been working so hard we have barely seen each other the last few weeks - this defiantly needs rectifying)
- meal plan a little further than one week in advance - although I haven't done too badly with controlling the food budget I know we can do better with a little more planning
- get my business stuff organised - I need to know what I've got ingredients/packaging wise, what I may need this year as capital purchases and get some budgets in place (rough only while I'm still working my way through my first business year). Getting organised will have a knock on effect on practically all the other things I want to do including my time with DH.

I do hope that everyone is well and I look forward to catching up with you all.

In the meantime I wish you all the very best for 2018 whatever your plans or aspirations are.

MCI xx

Karmacat

Sounds very good to me, MCI. And speaking as a person who's been organising a new patchwork stash - it's really crucial to know what stock you've got :rotfl: